


Aftermath

by FlowersAndSkeletons



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Healing, Imprisonment, Past Abuse, possibly one-sided Glimmer/Adora in the future, sort of one-sided Catra/Adora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:20:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21956545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FlowersAndSkeletons/pseuds/FlowersAndSkeletons
Summary: "The lightning flashes pale blue through the rain, nothing like the savage red of the black garnet the first time she tried to destroy the world. The memory makes her twist inside, dragged back to all every mistake she made during the war. It’s over now, and she reminds herself of that every day. The Horde is disbanded, Horde Prime is dead, and Etheria is safe. It brings her small comfort, but now she is in unfamiliar territory, living in the castle of Brightmoon and sitting by the queen while she changes her bandages."
Relationships: Catra/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Comments: 37
Kudos: 302





	1. Chapter 1

It never occurred to Catra that it would storm in Brightmoon. 

The lightning flashes pale blue through the rain, nothing like the savage red of the black garnet the first time she tried to destroy the world. The memory makes her twist inside, dragged back to all every mistake she made during the war. It’s over now, and she reminds herself of that every day. The Horde is disbanded, Horde Prime is dead, and Etheria is safe. It brings her small comfort, but now she is in unfamiliar territory, living in the castle of Brightmoon and sitting by the queen while she changes her bandages. 

Glimmer’s hands still have the slightest tremble from their time as Horde Prime’s prisoners. Everyone has noticed, Catra is sure of that, just as everyone noticed the way her claws never retracted, but no one mentions anything. No one but the two of them, sitting in silence across from each other in their suddenly overabundant spare time. It’s the only time either of them get anything reminiscent of normalcy. Ever since the princesses rescued them from that ship, everyone has been tiptoeing through the tension to avoid upsetting their precious queen. Meanwhile, Catra has been busy tiptoeing around everyone else. 

Flexing her hand, Catra tries to control her breathing as her ear twitches. Glimmer keeps her eyes down as she dabs a wet rag across the stitched gashes on Catra’s arm. Her crown is set aside with Catra’s mask. She is covered with scuffs and scrapes, bandaged and bruised but still standing, for the most part. One eye is surrounded by a healing bruise from when she mouthed off to Horde Prime during their imprisonment. Facing the memory makes Catra’s hair stand on end. 

A sharp pain pulses through her arm. She bares her teeth and hisses, yanking away from Glimmer. The queen holds her hands up. “Sorry,” she mumbles. “Is it still that bad?” 

“It is when you press on it like that!” Catra snaps. 

“Well then stop moving your arm!” Glimmer shoots back. She takes a deep breath and grinds her teeth. “I won’t do it again. Just come back here already.” 

Catra purses her lips as Glimmer swipes the cloth across the healing wound again. She finds herself leaning into the silence of the moment, trying to ignore the gnawing in her guts as she watches the queen. She tilts her head.

“Why?” she bursts out. 

“Why what?” Glimmer asks without looking up. 

“Why are you doing this?” 

“Because this needs to be cleaned and you won’t let anyone else touch you.” Glimmer shakes her head. “I still can’t believe you bit the medic.” 

“ _ Glimmer. _ ” 

The queen whips her head up. She could count the times Catra has used her real name on one hand. The last time she did… 

Catra’s eyes are dull and heavy as she meets Glimmer’s stare. “Why are you helping me?” 

Glimmer grimaced and lowered her head. “You know why,” she whispered. She reached out to touch the edge of a cut showing from beneath the bandages on Catra’s face. “You nearly died getting us out of there. I’m just repaying that.”

“Is that the only reason?”

“What do you want me to say, Catra?” 

Catra lowers her head. “I don’t know.” 

They fall into silence as Glimmer wraps bandages around her arm. One side of her face is cast in shadow by the fire in the hearth.  _ She has a fireplace in her room?  _ Catra thought the first time Glimmer invited her in. After sharing a room with a dozen other cadets, even her officer’s quarters seemed massive, but the castle was ridiculous. 

Glimmer ties the bandages and lets go of Catra’s arm. “There. You’re going to have to let someone else come near you to take the stitches out.”

“I don’t like them,” Catra grumbles. 

“Why not?” 

“They treat me like I’m gonna break if they touch me.” 

“That’s called being gentle, Catra. They’re medics, it’s their job. What did medics do in the Horde, beat you more?”

“They bandaged you up, gave you a pill, and sent you back to training.” 

Glimmer frowns and stands, turning away. “Well, here you’ll actually have time to recover.” 

“Yay.” 

“Do you remember where your room is or do you want me to walk you back?” 

“Aw, done with me already, Sparkles?” 

Glimmer hesitates. “Do you want to stay?” 

Catra straightens. She hoped for a push back, a snap, something sharp like their relationship before everything happened, but now Glimmer’s just… trying. 

Trying to fix things. She tries to fix things with Adora, she tries to fix the damage the war left behind, and she tries to at least foster the odd bond they now share. She doesn’t try to fix Catra, though. Catra wonders where she would even begin if she could. 

She grits her teeth. “I remember where the room is. I can find it on my own.” 

“Okay. Goodnight.” 

“Night.” 

It’s too cold alone in her room. She curls in on herself on the hard mattress - Adora suggested it when she couldn’t stand the mass of pillows and feathers the room came with - and buries herself in blankets. Staring out the window, she watches the storm rage. It started raining when they returned home, and it seemed like the clouds never left. 

She found Glimmer standing on a balcony one day while exploring the castle. It was sprinkling, and the wind bit through Catra’s clothes. The rain clung to Glimmer’s hair like little crystals and dripped over her skin, her simple tunic fluttering around her. It was the first time since she became queen that Catra had seen her without the cape and crown to mark her status, just the piercings in her ears and the shadows under her eyes. It startled her how young she looked without it. 

“You’re gonna catch something standing out there, Sparkles,” Catra called, shivering on the edge of the balcony. 

“I thought cats don't like water,” Glimmer replied without turning. 

“What are you even doing out there?” 

“Thinking.” 

“Think inside.” 

“Leave me alone, Catra.” 

“No.” 

It made Glimmer turn and relent, and they sat together in Glimmer’s room by the fire in silence until Adora came to get the queen. The warrior gave Catra an odd look. Catra simply turned away. 

And now she lies alone, watching the rain. 

She is too exhausted to fight sleep. It settles in her bones and drags her into twisted dreams that she can’t escape from. She sees blood and fire, Horde Prime’s wild green eyes as he claws his way towards her in the wreckage of his ship, dead clones littering the scene. Most of all, she sees Glimmer. She sees her covered in blood and bruises. She hears Glimmer screaming her name. 

On the worst nights, Glimmer’s blood is on Horde Prime’s talons and Catra is powerless to do anything. 

Shooting upright, she screams in terror, covered in a cold sweat. Her wounds ache as pain pulses through her body, and it takes her a few minutes before she is able to pry her claws out of the edge of the mattress. 

Someone knocks on her door. She jumps, her claws extending again before she calmed down. 

“What?” she snaps. 

“It’s me,” Glimmer calls through the door. Catra doesn’t respond. “Can I come in?” 

“Do what you want.” 

Glimmer closes the door behind her and leans her back against it. “You couldn’t sleep either?” 

“What does it look like?” 

Glimmer rolls her eyes, sitting beside Catra as she scoots to make room on the edge of the bed. She wanted to reach out and grab Glimmer, check her for new wounds in case not everything was in her imagination, but all she saw was blood when she looked at the queen. Instead, she stares at her feet and they sit in silence. 

Glimmer sighs and lifts her head. “I can’t sleep alone anymore,” she admits. 

“Is that why you look like that?” Catra teases, trying to force the lingering images from her mind. 

Mustering a smile, she nudges Catra with her shoulder. Catra pushes back. 

After a moment of hesitation, Glimmer corrects herself. “I can’t sleep without you there anymore.” 

The admission yanks Catra back to the ship. 

_ “If you touch me, you’re going straight to the floor,” Catra snapped, snarling at Glimmer over her shoulder.  _

_ “The feeling’s mutual,” Glimmer shot back. She and Catra lied on the thin bunk in their cell back to back, and Glimmer shifted as far away from the other girl without falling to the ground. “I can’t believe that of all people on Etheria, I’m stuck in this tiny little hellhole with you.”  _

_ “You’re the one that got us here, Sparkles.”  _

_ “And you sent the first message to Horde Prime.”  _

_ Catra growled and pressed herself to the wall. “Just shut up and sleep,” she grumbled. Glimmer kicked her leg. “Sparkles, I swear, you will be on the floor!”  _

_ Glimmer sneered. “Whoops.”  _

_ Catra woke up first the next morning. She shoved Glimmer off the bunk when she realized she had curled up against the queen in her sleep.  _

“Catra?” Glimmer asks. 

She looks up. “What?” 

“Are you alright? I’ve been trying to get your attention and you were just staring into space.” 

“Oh. Yeah, I’m fine, I was just thinking.” She clenched her fist. “Do you… do you want to sleep in here tonight? Just back to back like on the ship. It might help.” 

Glimmer nods. Catra lies down on one side while Glimmer stretches out on the other, both seeking the warmth of the other pressed against them. The contact is calming, not that either would admit it. Catra grinds her teeth and screws her eyes shut. Even safe in her castle, Glimmer still shakes. Reaching behind her, she grabs Glimmer’s hand. It does little to quell the tremors, but it is something, at the very least. 

“I keep dreaming of you,” Catra says into the darkness. Glimmer squeezes her hand. “I think that Horde Prime got to you before I could after the ship went down.” 

“I’m still here,” Glimmer says.

“I know that.” 

Glimmer shifts, turning so she can see Catra out of the corner of her eye. “Have you talked to Adora? She learned how to deal with nightmares after she first got here.” 

“We tried talking. It’s not working.” 

She doesn’t say how their “talk” ended up as a screaming match, each blaming the other for everything that happened. She doesn’t tell her how Adora grabbed her arm and she nearly threw the warrior halfway across the room in sheer panic. Adora gathered her composure, sticking around just long enough to hear Catra’s apology before they parted ways. She shredded the curtains in her room and screamed and cried in frustration all night. 

The wounds were still too raw. It wasn’t like making up with Glimmer, where there wasn’t so much history behind it and they had no choice but to figure it out, isolated together as they were. 

“Scorpia and I are going to talk tomorrow,” she says. “I already talked to Entrapta. As far as I can tell, we’re okay enough, but it’s also Entrapta. She doesn’t hate me, I know that. I just have to get over my own thoughts about it.” 

“That’s good,” Glimmer replies. 

“Did you talk to Adora?” 

“Not yet. I talked to Bow, but I did more damage with Adora than I did with him.” 

“We’ve got that in common.”

“Pretty shit thing to have in common.” 

“No kidding.” 

They turn to face each other at the same time, lying on their backs with only a few inches between their faces, hands clasped. The heat coming off Glimmer cuts through the chill that froze over Catra when she found herself on Horde Prime’s ship. 

Although she wants to believe otherwise, Catra can’t shake the feeling that this will disappear once everything is back to normal. On Prime’s ship they were alone. Here, they might as well be. With all of their bridges burned, they find themselves stuck on an island with only their own mistakes and each other to lean on. Catra knows that eventually Glimmer will stop coming to her when she can’t sleep, and she will stop finding herself sitting in silence in the queen’s quarters. 

_ She won’t need a crutch forever, _ Catra thinks. 

“What are you thinking about?” Glimmer asks. 

Catra lets go of her hand and rolls over. “Nothing. Night, Sparkles.” 

“Goodnight, Catra.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra learns to swallow her pride. Memories continue to resurface.

Scorpia sighs and lets her gaze fall to the tabletop. Sitting across from her, Catra bites her tongue, waiting for a response after apologizing and explaining with more words than she thought she had left in her. The princess drums her pincers on the edge of the table and blows a long breath through her nose. 

“I, uh… I don’t know what to say,” she finally says. “You hurt me real bad, Wildcat. I mean, brushing me off all those times, running after Adora.” Catra flinches. “All that hurt but then… you said some pretty harsh stuff back in the Fright Zone.” 

“I know,” Catra sighs. “Look, Scorpia, I don’t expect you to forgive me for all of that. I just needed to apologize. If you can never see me in the same way again then that’s… I can accept that. I deserve it.” 

Scorpia’s eyes go wide. “Wow, I, ah, I didn’t expect that. Hey, have you been sleeping okay? You look really tired. Hang on, let me get you some water or something.” 

_ Classic Scorpia, _ Catra thinks as she grabs her claw. “I’m fine. Really. I’m trying to apologize for what I did to you. It’s not about me right now.” 

The princess eyes her curiously as she sits back down. “What happened to you and Glimmer on that ship?” 

“A lot.” She pushes her hair out of her face. Her mask was buried somewhere in her room, and she wasn’t in the mood to deal with it that morning. “I’m not asking you to forgive me, but maybe don’t hate me? In the future, at least?” 

Scorpia’s face softens, and she flashes a smile that forces a lump into Catra’s throat. “Aw, Wildcat, you know I could never hate you.” Catra stands and bristles when Scorpia throws her arms around her. She stays for a moment before jumping backwards. “Oh, sorry! I forgot, not a hugger!” 

Catra wraps her arms around Scorpia’s waist before she can leave. “It’s fine.” 

Scorpia swallows hard before pulling Catra close. “I missed you, Wildcat. It’s good to have you back.” 

Catra just holds her tighter. 

The door opens. “Scorpia!” Perfuma chirps, bringing with her the overwhelming smell of honeysuckle. “Could you do me a… Oh. Am I interrupting something?” 

“No,” Catra says as she steps back. She feels Perfuma’s wary stare harsher than she would like. 

Perfuma grins. “Okay! Scorpia, could you help me? Glimmer’s letting me rearrange the gardens while there’s a break in the rain and I have to move some statues.” 

Catra’s ears perk up at the mention of the queen, and she hates it when she notices. 

“Sure thing!” Scorpia smiles and claps Catra on the back. Catra pitches forward but ignores it, making a note to remind Scorpia of her strength later. “I’ll see you later, Catra.” 

She waves goodbye as the princesses hurry off. Falling back into a chair, she rakes her hands through her hair and takes a deep breath. With a roar of anger, she bashes her fist against the table, but it’s forced and fake. She knows that it’s relief she feels, or at least it should be. She wants it to be stronger. 

She wants to feel anything strong like she did before this, but all she can muster is fake anger and numbness. She wishes she had some strength left. 

Staggering to her feet, she stumbles into the hall and finds her way to Glimmer’s room. No one questions her as she wanders the castle anymore, despite the dark looks that follow her as she goes. No one questions when she heads for the queen’s quarters, either. It had become a regular occurence to find her spending her free time there. 

Glimmer’s door is cracked open. Muffled voices coming from inside give Catra pause, and she stops, pressing her back to the wall outside. 

“I just wanted to apologize,” Glimmer says. “For everything. I didn’t mean any of it. I was grieving and terrified of all my new responsibilities but that’s no excuse. I’m sorry.” 

“I know you were stressed,” Adora sighs. Catra bristles. She shouldn’t be listening to this, but she stays. “Do you… do you really blame me for what happened to Angella?” 

“No! No, of course not! I… I don’t know what to think about that.” 

“You know who to blame for that, Glimmer.” 

Catra twists, Adora’s words playing over in her mind as she peeks into the room.

_ Too many people got hurt when you set off that portal!  _

Does Glimmer blame her for that? 

“I don’t want to talk about that,” Glimmer dismisses. Her voice is thick and watery with restrained tears. “I need to apologize for everything I did. I should have never listened to Shadow Weaver or Light Hope. You warned me that they would only use me to get what they want and you were right but I didn’t listen. I was too headstrong and I thought… I thought that if I could just win the war then the end would justify the means, even using my friends to get there, but I was wrong! I was so wrong and I’m so, so sorry, Adora!” 

Glimmer falls into Adora’s arms. Adora holds her tight as they drop to their knees, cradling Glimmer’s head against her chest as tears poured down her face. 

“It’s okay,” Adora whispers. “I never blamed you.” She pulls back and kisses Glimmer’s forehead, and something about the sight makes Catra’s stomach drop. “It’s all over now. Just promise to talk to me in the future. I have to know what’s going on so I can protect you.” 

“I know,” Glimmer sobs. 

Adora holds her tight. Catra turns on her heel and bolts. 

She finds herself on a balcony, perched on the railing and clenching her jaw. She knows she should have left. It was vulnerable and private and she knew that; Glimmer told her what apologizing meant when it came to fixing her mistakes. Catra saw her vulnerable before, but this wasn’t her place. She had her moment with Glimmer on the ship. 

Alone. 

Real. 

Catra folds her ears flat against her head as the memory comes flooding back. 

_ “I just don’t understand how everything went so wrong so fast,” Glimmer said, throwing her hands in the air.  _

_ She leaned back against Catra, facing the wall and scrubbing tears from her eyes. Both girls were covered in bruises and scratches. Half were from Prime losing his temper, but the rest were inflicted by the other when they finally cut the tension between them. Catra found it funny that beating the living daylights out of each other was what finally broke their resolves.  _

_ “I mean, seriously,” Glimmer continued. “We won, and then suddenly my mother was gone and I was queen and it was like… it was like every decision I made just made things worse.”  _

_ “I get it,” Catra replied. “Even when I was winning, things never really felt like they were going my way. Everyone on my side just left me in the end.”  _

_ “Is winning really the only thing that mattered to you?” Glimmer asked, her tone almost accusatory.  _

_ Catra snapped her teeth and drove Glimmer back. “Yes. That’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted because it’s the only thing that ever mattered.” She leaned away, drawing into herself as Glimmer relaxed. “Look, Sparkles, I get that we’re baring our souls here or whatever you want to call it, but I have my motives and you have yours and that should be one thing that stays how it is.”  _

_ “You don’t know anything about my motives,” Glimmer countered, equally harsh.  _

_ “Good. Let’s keep it that way.”  _

A water droplet races down Catra’s face between her eyes, drawing her back to reality. She lifts her head to find rain falling in fine mist over the kingdom and painting wisps of fog over the forest. Shaking the water out of her hair, she rises from her crouch and hops off the railing. 

_ I need to apologize, _ is her first thought. She pauses.  _ Hell, Scorpia was right. I am different.  _

She shakes her head and turns to head back inside. It’s a small thing and she knows that, but she needs to set it straight. She has to talk to Glimmer. 

She comes face to face with Adora standing in the doorway to the balcony. 

The warrior watches her unflinchingly while Catra wraps her arms around herself. The tip of her tail flicks back and forth. 

“Hey Adora,” she ventures. 

Both cringe. There is no fight or humor behind her voice, and her shoulders slump and her face is tired and she’s not sure she would recognize herself now if she was the same Catra as two months ago. Adora narrows her eyes and crosses her arms, keeping her stare focused on Catra. A simple, plain sword is sits in a scabbard on her back. 

Catra thinks about how long she spent chasing the stupid golden broadsword that used to be at home in Adora’s hands. 

“Hey Catra,” Adora says. “I thought you didn’t like water.” 

“I was just going to go inside,” Catra explains. 

“You’re soaked.” 

“Which is why I’m going now.” 

She gets into the hall before Adora blocks her path. “Going where?” she asks. 

Catra shrinks back. She remembers the portal and the way Adora scowled at her after she closed it. “I’m going to see Glimmer.” 

“Why?” 

“I’m allowed. I’m not a prisoner here and I can go wherever I want.” She steps aside, and Adora blocks her again. “Adora, what the hell?” 

“Glimmer wants us all in the meeting room,” Adora says, cold and commanding. “Bow’s leaving for an aid mission to Salineas next week.” 

Catra hears the accusation in her voice. “Why do they want me there?” 

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t.” Adora slams her shoulder into Catra’s as she passes. “Come on.” 

Catra clenches her fists and follows. 

She sits to Glimmer’s left across from Adora, listening to Bow talk and point to different places on the holographic map. Scorpia sits by Perfuma and Frosta, who eye Catra warily as she folds her arms in front of her. She moves her hair to display the bandages covering her left eye, and they look away. Glimmer’s father sits opposite from his daughter. Entrapta is off being Entrapta. Catra thanks her lucky stars that Mermista and her weird boyfriend are back in their own kingdom. 

“So, the destroyed towns are almost rebuilt,” Bow says. “We’re thinking that the refugees should be able to return home in a few weeks. Entrapta is still figuring out how to fix the gate, but it looks like she’s close. If we keep advancing with our…”

Catra tries but doesn’t have the strength to pay attention further. Her eyes turn to Glimmer, and she finds that she isn’t the only one to lose focus. 

The queen’s eyebrows are drawn together, but her eyes are cold and hollow and Catra can hardly tell if she is breathing. She knows the look well. She held Glimmer in their cell the first time she saw that look in her eyes, when Horde Prime threw her across his throne room and threatened to destroy her and the planet if she “disrespected” him again. Catra was the one who calmed him, somehow, and pleaded for him to overlook the discretion. 

“She doesn’t know the ways of the Horde, Emperor,” she had explained. “Let me teach her. It won’t happen again.” 

She hated the way Prime scanned her, extra eyes moving separately from the main two. The probes he stabbed Hordak with moved around his head like snakes. 

Finally, he grinned. “Very well. Train her.” 

In their cell, Catra caged her arms in a fortress around the silent Glimmer and rested her chin on top of the queen’s head. Glimmer clung to her shirt, and she sighed. “Rulers never know how to deal with other rulers,” she mumbled. “You’re not a queen to him. You have to remember that, Sparkles.” 

Glimmer didn’t respond. 

Now, as Bow carries on, she studies the queen, waiting for the expression to disappear. It doesn’t. Adora notices Catra staring. Everyone else notices Adora. 

Bow stops as his brow furrows. “Hey, Glimmer, are you okay?” he asks. 

Glimmer doesn’t move. 

“Glimmer? Sweetie?” her father says.

Nothing.

Adora reaches out. “Glim? Are you okay?” She cups Glimmer’s cheek. 

Catra knows it was a bad decision even before Glimmer jumps to her feet, knocking over her throne as she gasps for air. Her eyes are wild with terror but Catra knows she isn’t in the present. 

Catra sees Prime’s clawed hand against Glimmer’s cheek, sees the tendons pop out as he squeezes, sees the fear in Glimmer’s face before she steps in. In a second, it all changes to fire and debris and blood as his claws tore through her arm and face. She still hears Glimmer screaming her name when she wakes in the middle of the night. 

She bolts up before anyone else, followed by Adora and Micah and the rest of the alliance. Her first instinct is to shove Adora away, but she holds back. Instead, she touches Glimmer’s shoulder, angling her body in towards the queen. Glimmer eyes latch onto her steady stare. 

“Sparkles, hey,” she says, quietly forceful as she squeezes Glimmer’s shoulder. “He’s not here.” 

Glimmer nods and lifts her head to address the rest of the room, while Catra lifts the heavy throne and places it on its feet. “I’m sorry,” she says. She doesn’t explain. Catra thinks that she doesn’t need to. 

“Glimmer, maybe you should take a break,” Micah suggests. 

“I can send you a report later,” Bow adds. 

Glimmer frowns and looks at the table. Adora touches her arm. “Glimmer, go get some rest,” she says. 

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Glimmer sighs. “Okay. Bow, send me a report of what I miss.” 

“Yes, your majesty.” 

“I will see you all at the next meeting.” 

“Bye, Glimmer!” Frosta chirps, waving a hand as the rest of the princesses follow suit. 

Glimmer smiles before turning to leave. Catra meets Adora’s eyes for a split second, just long enough to catch her glare before she puts a hand between Glimmer’s shoulder blades and leads her away. Adora’s stare burns into the back of her head until the door shuts between them. 

They return to Glimmer’s room. Catra thinks of the scene she witnessed between Glimmer and Adora earlier, but she pushes it to the back of her mind as she sits with Glimmer on the edge of a couch. 

Glimmer shakes. Catra takes her hand. 

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” she mumbles. “You drift in and out of what’s real and it blurs together.” 

“Is that what happens to you?” Glimmer asks. 

Catra shrugs one shoulder. “I’m used to it.” 

Glimmer looks away as she leans against Catra. Pursing her lips, Catra pulls back and turns her body to face Glimmer. She keeps her movements slow as she moves her hands up Glimmer’s arms, resting on her shoulders and then her neck. 

Glimmer bristles as Catra cups her face in her hands. They lock eyes, and after a moment, she melts into Catra’s touch as her eyes slip shut. Catra brushes her thumbs across the soft sweep of Glimmer’s cheekbones. She lets go of a shaky breath. 

“You’re here,” Catra says. “You’re in Brightmoon. Horde Prime is dead and he is never going to hurt you again. No one will.” 

She lets go and slips her hand into Glimmer’s as the queen leans against her. She closes her eyes, breathing in the scent of clean air and pine needles and wishing she had the right to run her hands through Glimmer’s hair, to wrap her arms around her like she had on the ship. 

She stays where she is and decides that is enough. 

Glimmer keeps shaking, but it’s not so bad in that moment. Catra decides that is enough. 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Adora try once more to resolve their differences. Catra and Glimmer are tortured by their memories from Horde Prime's imprisonment.

Adora glares at Catra from across the room. Catra squirms under her stare, drumming her fingers against the edge of her seat. Her temper isn’t running as high as it was the first time they tried to talk, but she can tell Adora would rather be anywhere else. In all honesty, Catra is surprised Adora hasn’t reached for her sword yet. 

“If you want to talk then talk,” Adora says. 

“I don’t know where to start,” Catra admits. 

“Maybe with the fact that you tried to kill me multiple times,” Adora snaps. “How about all the times you destroyed Brightmoon? How about kidnapping Entrapta and telling her we left her behind when we thought she was dead? Or when you stayed with the Horde even when you knew what they were doing, when I tried to give you a way out? Trying to wreck the Kingdom of Snows, conquering Salineas, destroying all those villages. You tried to destroy everything in Etheria! You hurt thousands of people!” 

Catra flinches, covering her ears as Adora stands. “Stop it,” she begs. 

“Why should I? If you want to apologize then apologize. You opened that portal and Queen Angella died trying to stop it! Whether Glimmer blames you or not, I do!”

“Stop it!” 

“You were the reason that message got through to Horde Prime. If you hadn’t opened the portal, he wouldn’t have shown up and Glimmer never would have been captured! Everything that happened to her was your fault!” 

“Shut up!” Catra leaps to her feet and shoves Adora away from her. 

Adora throws a punch that Catra dodges and then another that catches her in the nose. Catra stumbles back as her eyes water, blood running into her hands. She claws at Adora and misses. The warrior swipes at her feet, knocking her onto her back. She grabs Catra by the collar. 

Catra’s mind flashes back to the feeling of a clawed hand around her throat. Her wounds burn. 

Roaring in anger, Catra tackles Adora through the doors. They tumble across the floor and grapple for the upperhand. Adora slams Catra against the wall of the hallway, punching her in the gut and face. Catra swipes at Adora with her claws and tears through the arm of her jacket, but never makes contact with her skin. 

Footsteps echo in the hall. “Adora! Catra!” 

Bow grabs Adora by the waist and yanks her off Catra. He restrains her as Glimmer kneels by Catra, helping her to her feet and holding her against the wall with one hand on her shoulder. Blood still trickles from her nose and soaks into the front of her shirt. She and Adora breath hard as they snarl at each other. 

“What is wrong with you two?” Glimmer demands. 

“She started it!” Adora shouts. 

“No, you started it!” Catra protests. 

Both go to lunge. Bow pulls Adora back while Glimmer pushes Catra against the wall again. “Okay! Everybody just calm down!” he squeaks, voice cracking. 

“I’m trying to apologize!” Catra says. “Why can’t you just listen to me?” 

“I don’t have to listen to you!” Adora shoots back. “I gave you a hundred chances to redeem yourself and you didn’t take any of them! Why should I believe you’ve changed now?” 

“Because I have changed! I’m sorry!” 

“Everyone just stop it!” Glimmer commands. They fall silent, turning to her as she takes a deep breath. “Obviously you two aren’t ready to talk about this yet.” 

Catra snarls. “I was trying to-”

Glimmer shoots her a look that shuts her up in a second. “Adora, go calm down. Catra, come with me.” 

Bow leads Adora away while Glimmer puts a hand on Catra’s back and guides her down the hall. Catra keeps her head down, one hand pressed to her ribs. Glimmer holds onto her arm and glances up at her. 

“If you’re going to say something then say it, Princess,” Catra mumbles. 

“Are you okay?” Glimmer asks. 

Catra’s steps falter. The gentleness of Glimmer’s voice startles her. She expected a reprimand, telling her how she shouldn’t be fighting and why can’t she just get along with Adora and why does she keep causing problems that Glimmer has to fix but there’s none of that. Glimmer simply holds her hand and waits patiently as Catra’s face grows hot. 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she says. 

“Okay.” 

Glimmer stands by her in the infirmary as the medic takes the stitches out of her arm. She digs her claws into her knee and tries not to growl or wince. The medic inspects the wounds, prodding the skin around them. He smiles at Catra. 

“That looks good,” he says. “I think we can go ahead and leave it uncovered now.” Catra nods. “Let’s take a look at those cuts on your face, yeah?” 

Catra clasps her hands tight as the medic unwraps the bandages over her eye. She blinks as the light hits her eye for the first time since they were rescued from the ship, lifting a hand to her head. Her vision is blurry. Glimmer covered her mouth with one hand. 

Three long, ragged, angry red cuts stretch from her eyebrow to her jaw. Catra counted herself lucky that Horde Prime’s claws missed the eye itself. The stitches were taken out days ago, but the medic wanted to keep it covered until it had a little more time to heal. When she first woke up in the castle infirmary, she had to be restrained from clawing at the bandages, trying to get rid of the pain. Now, they only hurt when her face moves. 

The medic smiles when the bandages come off. “That looks good!” he says. “They’ve healed up nicely. We can keep these uncovered, too.” He hands her an ice pack and flashes a smile she tries to return. “Keep that on your nose to help with the swelling and it should be fine. Come see me if you need help with anything.” 

“Thank you.” 

“Could you give us the room, please?” Glimmer asks. 

“Of course, your majesty.” The medic stands and bows to her before scurrying off, leaving the girls alone in the curtained medical bay. 

“How bad is it?” Catra ventures. 

“It’s not great, but it looks better than it was,” Glimmer says. She holds Catra’s hand, brushing her thumb across her knuckles as Catra closes her eyes. “So, you and Adora tried to talk?” 

“Yeah. It didn’t really work, though.” Catra purses her lips as her eyes fall to the floor. “She doesn’t listen to me! I tried to apologize but she just goes on blaming me for everything.” 

“Adora just needs some time,” Glimmer assures her. “She’ll come around eventually.” 

Catra looks down. “If you can forgive me, anyone can.” 

“What?” 

Her turns her broken eyes to meet Glimmer’s stare. “Do you blame me for what happened to your mother?” 

Glimmer rears back, her eyes going wide as her lips twist. “I… I don’t know, Catra,” she finally admits. “I know you didn’t intend to hurt anybody, but… you opened the portal.” 

_ Is winning really the only thing that mattered to you?  _

“I’m sorry,” Catra says. “I know that’s never going to fix it or make up for what I did, but I am.”

“I know you are.” Glimmer sits beside her and covers Catra’s hand with hers. “I thought about a lot on the ship and I still don’t know what I think about it all, but I know that I don’t resent you. Is that… is that answer enough for now?” 

Catra nods. They sit in silence for a moment longer before she breaks it. “Are you doing okay?” 

“I’m better than I have been,” Glimmer says. “What about you?”

Catra shrugs. “Better than I was, worse than I want to be.” 

Glimmer takes a deep breath and briefly leans her head on Catra’s shoulder before climbing to her feet. “I have to go. Try to get some sleep tonight.” 

“You too, Sparkles.” 

Catra stares at her feet once Glimmer is gone. She touches the healing scratches on her face and tries not to think about the ship going down, the fire and destruction as the world came down around her. The hatred on Horde Prime’s face as he clawed his way out of the wreckage is seared into her mind. 

Shaking her head, she marches out of the infirmary and heads to her room. The guards have always watched her, but now they stare with wide eyes at her blood stained shirt and wounds on full display. She ignores them. 

She didn’t expect to sleep that night, but she does expect the nightmares that come when she finally does. 

_ Glimmer and Catra sat back to back on their bunk. They crossed the bridge to tolerating each other, though Catra’s ribs still hurt and Glimmer’s lip is still split. They stayed silent, listening to the sounds of the ship and approaching footsteps.  _

_ One of Horde Prime’s clones stood outside the cell. “The emperor requests your presence,” he said.  _

_ The laser door disappeared, and Catra scoffed. “As if we have a choice.”  _

_ She and Glimmer stayed close together as they followed the clone to Prime’s throne room. The emperor sat reclined in his throne, drumming his claws on the arm of the chair. He stood when they entered and grinned with fluorescent green fangs. His eyes swiveled around until all four were focused on them.  _

_ “Ladies,” he purred. “How lovely of you to join me.”  _

_ “You requested us, Emperor?” Catra asked.  _

_ “I did.” With a flick of his hand, he projected a hologram before them. “Despite my little brother’s failed conquests, my plans to correct his mistakes are running smoothly. However, this little rebellion seems to be getting in my way.” Glimmer bristled as he pointed to Brightmoon on the map. “Their main stronghold is here, from what I gather.” He grinned, twisted and sick as he stepped through the hologram to loom over Glimmer. “So, your majesty. Tell me about your kingdom.”  _

_ Glimmer snarled. “If you even dare to attack Brightmoon, She-Ra will-” _

_ Prime backhanded her. Hard. _

_ Glimmer went tumbling across the floor, her eye bleeding from where his metal claw cut her face. A surge of rage swelled in Catra’s chest, but she turned to Horde Prime instead of running to Glimmer’s side.  _

_ “Whatever little savior you have is nothing against me!” Prime screamed, low and guttural and booming. “My empire controls half the known universe and grows every cycle! Not even the strongest hero from your backwater planet can compare to me! None are equal to me! I am Horde Prime, the most powerful being in the universe. I could destroy your planet on a whim and it would mean nothing to me.” He dragged his claws down the side of Glimmer’s face and bared his teeth as she stared, frozen in fear. “Like squashing a bug.” _

_ Catra jumped in between them, driving Horde Prime back. “Emperor, ignore her, please!” she said, forcing a laugh.  _

_ Prime grabbed Catra by the throat and lifted her in the air before she could say another word. She didn’t struggle or fight, didn’t grab his arm or try to pry his fingers off her neck. She knew it would only make it worse, so she simply clenched her jaw and met his eyes and tried not to choke.  _

_ The snakes in his hair reared up around him, long needles flashing in the harsh artificial light. She wondered what would happen if he did to her what he did to Hordak.  _

_ “Do you think you have earned my respect because my idiot little brother saw worth in you, Force Captain?” He spat the title like a slur.  _

_ “No, Emperor,” she forced out.  _

_ “I respected your boldness when you first made yourself known, but now it grows tiresome. Your cunning is your only redeemable trait and even that does not make you worthy to speak against me.”  _

_ “I meant no disrespect.”  _

_ He squeezed her throat until she couldn’t breathe. “Silence!” he roared. “If I wish for you to speak, I will ask you a question. Do you understand?” _

_ “Yes, Emperor.”  _

_ “Good.” Prime flung her to the floor. He smoothed his hair as two clones grabbed her arms, and she bit back a snarl when he pulled Glimmer to her feet. Blood trickled from the cut on the queen’s face, her eye already swollen half shut. He guided her towards the hologram with a hand on the back of her neck. “Bring the captain back to her cell. Your majesty, do cooperate. I would hate to lose my temper again.”  _

_ The clones dragged Catra out of the throne room. “Wait!” she protested, yanking her arms away.  _

_ Horde Prime ignores her, but Glimmer turns. Catra saw the command in her eyes.  _

Go.

_ Catra mouthed “don’t lie” before the clones dragged her alone to their cell.  _

“Glimmer!” Catra screams as she shoots upright. She is drenched in sweat, tremors wracking her body as she gasped for air. 

Scrubbing the tears from her eyes, she staggered out of bed and bolted down the halls. Even wandering through all the gentle pastels of Brightmoon, the only thing that can calm her frayed nerves is Glimmer. 

Somehow, she composes herself outside the queen’s door and knocks against the smooth wood. No response. She knocks again. 

“Who is it?” Glimmer calls. Her voice is weak. 

“It’s me,” Catra says. Glimmer doesn’t reply. Catra takes a step back and opens her mouth. 

Pink sparkles blind her. “Catra!” 

Catra braces herself as Glimmer jumps into her arms, knocking the wind out of her. She freezes for a split second, but when she feels Glimmer’s tears hot against her neck, she returns the embrace with a vice grip. Tears burn her eyes as she buries her face against Glimmer’s shoulder. 

“I dreamt of the ship,” Glimmer whispers. 

“I did, too,” Catra says. “When Horde Prime separated us.” 

“Will you stay?” 

“Please.” 

Glimmer leads Catra into her room by the hand. She glances up at the hanging bed, but Glimmer sits on a couch with a blanket tossed over the back. 

“I can’t sleep in that stupid thing anymore,” she says, running her hands through her hair. “It’s too soft now.” 

Catra grunts in agreement and sits beside her. It’s warm by the fire. Glimmer rests a gentle hand over the gashes on her arm, and Catra sighs as she leans her cheek against Glimmer’s shoulder. Taking her hand, she reclines against the arm of the couch. Glimmer follows. 

She rests her head on the hollow of Catra’s shoulder, fist curled against her chest. Catra wraps one arm around Glimmer’s shoulders and holds her hand with the other as Glimmer tucks her head beneath her chin. 

“Is this okay?” Glimmer asks. 

“Yeah.” 

They held each other like this once before, a few days before the ship went down when any meeting with Prime resulted in new wounds. She brushes her thumb across Glimmer’s knuckles as they relax into each other’s embrace. Glimmer closes her eyes. Catra gazes calmly at her as her breathing steadies and the shaking stills. 

Rubbing Glimmer’s back, she slips into a dreamless sleep. 

When she wakes, Glimmer is still asleep on her chest. Sunlight streams in through the massive windows. Catra groans, screwing her eyes shut and turning her face into the pillows on the couch. Despite the sun’s rude intrusion, she is more rested than she has been for months. 

The door opens. Catra opens one eye to see Adora step into the room, suspicious contempt immediately twisting her expression. Catra doesn’t react, only wondering how Adora is still a morning person after all this time. 

“Catra? What are you doing in here?” she demands. 

“Neither of us could sleep,” Catra says. She lifts her head, and Adora jumps when she sees her scarred face. “Did you need her for something?” 

“I… I just needed to talk to her. Tell her to come find me when she wakes up.” 

“Okay.” 

\---

Catra finds Glimmer halfway through the day after hours of actively avoiding the other inhabitants of the castle. They don’t touch or speak as they walk through the halls together. Every so often, Glimmer’s hand brushes Catra’s, and she allows the ghost of a smile. 

Any lingering happiness disappears from her face when Micah stops them in the hallway. 

“Hi Dad,” Glimmer says. Catra nods in greeting.

“Good afternoon, girls,” he says. “Do you both have a moment to talk? Adora and Bow are waiting down the hall.” 

They share a look. “Talk about what?” Glimmer asks. 

Micah takes a heavy breath. “We think it would be good for you two to tell us what happened to you on that ship.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOW this one hurt to write. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this and leaving kudos. It's my first time writing a fic and it means a lot to know that you guys are liking it. Thank you all!


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Catra and Glimmer reveal their experiences on Horde Prime's ship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a doozy. It's a bit longer than the other chapters but that's because it's a big one and hopefully things will lighten up a little after this. 
> 
> Trigger warning for a brief bit of violence towards the end. It's not too bad but I figured I would put this here anyway.

Catra clasps her hands in her lap, sitting beside Glimmer on the bench in her window before Micah, Adora, and Bow. Her shoulders curl in as her arm brushes Glimmer’s. Micah straightens in his chair. 

“Start at the beginning,” he coaxes after a long minute of silence. 

Glimmer and Catra share a look. Catra nods. Glimmer takes a deep breath.

\---

_ “Is this what you wanted?” Glimmer demanded as Catra sat against the wall of the cell. “You finally got the entire Horde army to come and save your ass.”  _

_ “I didn’t want this,” Catra protested. “I could manage Hordak but this guy is a psychopath.”  _

_ “Hordak was a psychopath.”  _

_ “Hordak was pathetic. He hasn’t been running things for a long time. He was too obsessed with getting back on big brother’s good side.”  _

_ Glimmer huffed and raked her hands through her hair, sitting on the edge of the single bunk. She tapped her foot as she bit her thumbnail. Catra’s ears twitched with each beat. Flattening her ears against her head, she growled and lashed out, swiping her claws at the queen. Glimmer yelped and jumped back.  _

_ “Would you stop that?!” she snapped. “How can you possibly be even more annoying than you already were?”  _

_ “You say that like you’re not,” Glimmer shot back.  _

_ Catra stood, towering over Glimmer. “I’m no worse than you, Sparkles. I mean really, do you even hear how bratty you sound? Ergh, and your constant whining! I know royals are spoiled but this is just ridiculous.”  _

_ “At least I’m not an arrogant, preening murderer like you!” Glimmer shoved Catra as she rose from her seat. The metal wall rang when Catra’s back hit it. “And stay out of my face!”  _

_ “Don’t touch me!” Catra snapped. Her claws left holes in Glimmer’s collar as she shoved her back.  _

_ Glimmer shrieked and tackled Catra.  _

_ They fought for days, coming to blows when one so much as glanced at the other the wrong way. Once, sitting across the cell from each other, Glimmer tried her powers again only to produce a few pink sparks. Catra laughed harshly. Glimmer almost broke her nose for it and came out of the fight with scratches all the way up her hands and arms.  _

_ Without the sun rising and falling, they could only guess how long Horde Prime kept them prisoner. Catra guessed it was about three weeks by the time she had Glimmer pinned to the wall, claws threatening at her throat as Glimmer shoved her face up with a palm under her chin. Swatting at her hand, Catra twisted her arm to the side and tried to keep the snarl on her face. Beyond the hate in her expression, Glimmer’s eyes were tired and dull. Growling, Catra retracted her claws and dropped the queen, slinking back to her corner of the cell.  _

_ “What, can’t finish what you started?” Glimmer taunted, breathing hard.  _

_ Catra snapped her teeth. “Shut up. You know you don’t want to keep doing this any more than I do.”  _

_ “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  _

_ “I’m tired and sick of kicking the shit out of each other. What good is it doing us?”  _

_ Glimmer pursed her lips and slid to the floor. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “There’s nothing else to do besides talk or hit each other.”  _

_ “Well, I’m not talking to you.”  _

_ “I’m not talking to you either.”  _

_ The fight drained from Catra each day. She mustered a steady gaze and proud posture in front of Horde Prime, but in their cell, she sat slumped over and curled in on herself. Glimmer held her scowl a little longer until Prime crushed her arm in his grip until she smiled. Catra convinced the queen to let her look at it. It was the first time they made physical contact since they stopped beating each other, and both hated the way they jolted from the presence of another person.  _

_ Catra grunted and leaned back against the wall. “It’s not broken. You’re fine.”  _

_ Glimmer mumbled a thank you and cradled her wounded arm in her lap, half hidden by her cape. Horde Prime gave them different clothes soon after they arrived. “To represent your allegiance to Horde Prime,” he claimed with a grin.  _

_ Catra’s new uniform was the same style, but everything was black and that hideous fluorescent green. She didn’t like the way he changed her headpiece, painting it black and adding more spines around her face. Her collar came up higher than it used to, topped with a green ring that was just a little too tight around her throat.  _

_ She was glad that she didn’t look like Glimmer, with her collar decorated in frills and a sickly green jewel resting in the hollow of her throat. He let her keep her crown, but all her earrings were replaced with green diamonds and polished silver. Against her violet eyes and sparkly pink hair, the white, gray, and green looked unnatural and wrong. She reminded Catra of a bruised doll.  _

_ “You shouldn’t piss him off like that,” Catra said.  _

_ “I thought we agreed on not talking,” Glimmer grumbled.  _

_ “I’m serious. It’s not helping you at all. All you’ve managed to do is get beat up. People like him don’t think defiance is charming and they don’t view it as strength. They think it’s irritating and disrespectful and they don’t tolerate it.” Catra huffed and lifted a hand to her head. “Royalty are all the same.”  _

_ “What is that supposed to mean?”  _

_ “You don’t know how to swallow your pride. You’re not a queen here, Sparkles. You’re dirt!”  _

_ Glimmer lunged and snagged Catra’s collar. Catra replied in kind, slamming the queen against the wall as her ears flattened against her head. Glimmer thrashed, but she didn’t have the strength to fight. They slid to the floor together, Catra’s grip loosening on her shoulders as Glimmer held onto the force captain’s arms.  _

_ “You’re like me now,” Catra hissed. “I know you hate that and you’re never going to admit it, but you are. If you want to get out of here alive, you need to listen to what I say.”  _

_ “I thought you wanted all the princesses dead so you could win,” Glimmer said.  _

_ “I don’t win here. I don’t get to make any of the decisions and I’m not respected. There’s no fun in any of this.” Catra returned to her spot across the room, her claws dragging reluctantly over Glimmer’s arms as she let go.  _

_ Glimmer studied her and pulled her knees to her chest. “Tell me how to act.”  _

_ Catra’s ears perked up. The sound that escaped her mouth was quiet and broken and defeated, but it was the first time she laughed in weeks.  _

_ They slept on the bunk that night, back to back. Although Glimmer ended up on the floor in the morning, they fell into the routine to ward off the cold of the sterile ship and, though neither would admit it, it was nice to feel another person.  _

_ Horde Prime called on them for strategy meetings, advice on the obstacles of the planet, or simply to taunt them while they ate a meal. Catra hated when he touched them, stroking their hair or leading them along with a hand on the back of their necks. He kept Glimmer at his side as he brought Catra forward to look at a screen. His fingers drummed against her jugular.  _

_ “This kingdom here,” he said, pointing. “What do they call it?”  _

_ “Salineas,” Catra answered.  _

_ “And you conquered it?”  _

_ “Yes.”  _

_ It used to fill her with pride, but the way Glimmer looked at her now left a sour taste in her mouth. _

_ “Well done,” Horde Prime purred. “What else have you done under my little brother’s command?” _

_ She showed him Dryl and the conquered villages, the Fright Zone, the strongholds scattered around the world. Glimmer crossed her arms and turned aside as Catra talked. Prime noticed, pausing Catra as he turned his attention to the queen.  _

_ “Your majesty, you always look so troubled,” he cooed. He grabbed Glimmer’s face and yanked her head up to face him, but that stupid easy smile stayed on his face. “Couldn’t I trouble you for a smile?”  _

_ Catra met Glimmer’s stare around his arm. She narrowed her eyes in warning. Glimmer swallowed her fear and smiled sweetly at Horde Prime, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.  _

_ “Of course, Emperor,” Glimmer said.  _

_ Prime grinned and cupped her cheek tenderly. “There it is.” His fingers left red marks on her face when he let go.  _

_ Catra sat beside Glimmer instead of across from her when they returned to their cell. The red marks turned to bruises on her jaw. Catra touched her shoulder, and she flinched. Sighing, she withdrew her hand.  _

_ “Good job listening to me today,” she said. Glimmer glanced up, eyes wide, startled by the lack of venom in her voice. “I mean it.”  _

_ “I’m sick of getting hit,” Glimmer mumbled.  _

_ “It’s going to stop eventually. Now that he thinks he can control you, he’ll stop trying so hard to break your resolve and it’ll only get bad when you make him angry. If you play along with their games, eventually they get sloppy. None of them watch their backs forever.”  _

_ Glimmer frowned, studying Catra with a stare a little too intense for her liking. “What happened to you in the Horde?”  _

_ “What do you think?”  _

_ The floodgates broke. Catra talked about Shadow Weaver and growing up as Adora’s pet, how she needed to be a hundred times better than the other cadets just so she could get a day’s break from the abuse. She told Glimmer how their relationship was crumbling long before Adora left. She told her that it wasn’t Adora leaving that hurt, but why. Why did Adora leave to save strangers when she had tolerated Catra’s abuse since they were kids?  _

_ “Do you love her?” Catra asked. “Really, I wanna know.”  _

_ “I… I think I did, but I also loved Bow. I guess I have problems distinguishing friendship from love. It doesn’t matter now, anyway.” She paused. “Did you love her?”  _

_ “I used to. But, even before she left… how do you love someone that lets that happen to you?”  _

_ Glimmer nodded. “Sometimes I wish she would stop trying to protect me so much. I know my mother told her to, but I can’t stand her treating me like a child.”  _

_ “Or a pet,” Catra added. “She always thought she protected me, but she never did. Not in any way that would be bad for her. It only got worse with Shadow Weaver after she left, and then I thought Hordak would be better because he respected me, but…” _

_ Glimmer covered her mouth when Catra told her about Hordak’s machine that stole the air from her lungs. They didn’t look at each other, but Catra took her hand and squeezed.  _

_ “Why didn’t you just leave?” Glimmer asked. Her voice shook with anger and sadness and sympathy and it made Catra’s chest ache.  _

_ “Where could I go?” Catra said. “I spent my entire life working to be the best and all it ever landed me was in Adora’s shadow. Once she was gone…” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t fit in anywhere else. After so much happens to you, you can’t go back on it.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “Sometimes trouble doesn’t make you stronger, Sparkles. It just makes you worse.”  _

_ Glimmer turned away. “I know.”  _

_ Catra watched Glimmer as she talked about her father’s death. It shocked her that someone with such a sickly sweet exterior could hold so much hate, but she understood. She understood how it made Glimmer ready to do anything to win, even ignoring the warnings of her friends, taking advice from Shadow Weaver, using Adora as bait.  _

_ “I was ready to kill,” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper. “I’m no better than you.”  _

_ “You don’t mean that. You were fighting to take back your planet. I was fighting to win. That’s it.”  _

_ “Do you remember when I went to your base where you had the pulse bots?”  _

_ “Yeah.”  _

_ “When you told me to pick you or the bot, I went after you.”  _

_ Catra lifts her head. “Really?”  _

_ “I was ready to let that thing kill all of us, just so I could get back at you for all the things you did. I… I wanted to hurt you so badly. I wanted you to pay for everything the Horde ever did. For attacking Brightmoon, for all the conquered villages, for my parents…” Her voice broke.  _

_ Catra touched Glimmer’s shoulder, and she covered Catra’s hand with her own. “We’re not that different, are we?”  _

_ Glimmer laughed, sniffling as she smiled at Catra with watery eyes. “I guess not.”  _

_ And though Catra was wrong, though Horde Prime’s treatment only got worse from there and they weren’t friends by any means, the sanctuary in their cell made it tolerable.  _

_ When Horde Prime slapped Glimmer and separated them the first time, Catra learned that maybe she wasn’t simply tolerating Glimmer anymore.  _

_ She paced the cell, ears flat and face held in a savage snarl until they tossed Glimmer back in with her. The queen groaned as Catra bolted to her, lifting a hand to her head. Catra gathered her in her arms and looked over her.  _

_ “Are you okay?” she asked. Desperation leaked into her voice.  _

_ “I’m fine,” Glimmer answered. “Are you?”  _

_ “Yeah. It didn’t hurt.” Catra pulled her sleeve up around the ball of her hand and wiped the blood off Glimmer’s face. The queen hissed. “Sorry.”  _

_ “It’s fine, thank you.”  _

_ Catra pursed her lips. Glimmer hung her head as Catra pulled her into her lap, wrapping the sparkly black cape around her and resting her chin atop her head. “Why would you do that?” she ground out. “I told you not to talk to him like that. What were you thinking?”  _

_ “You stepped in,” Glimmer whispered. “He went after you, too.”  _

_ Catra bit her lip and looked to the side. “You can’t keep defending the rebellion from up here,” she spat. “It’s been months.”  _

_ “He says that they’re still there.”  _

_ “We’ve been here for months now. They aren’t coming, Glimmer.”  _

_ She looked up at the use of her name. Her eyes were cold with a quiet, crumbling determination. Catra always prided herself on seeing the cracks in people’s facades, and now was no different, but that dying fight is fight, nonetheless.  _

_ “I know they’re going to come. They’re going to get us out of here. We can’t give up hope now.”  _

_ Catra pulled back and cupped Glimmer’s cheek. Her eyes pleaded with the force captain, and Catra felt it tug at her heart. “Okay,” she whispered. “Come on.”  _

_ They slept facing each other that night, with Catra’s arm tossed around Glimmer as the queen curled up against her chest.  _

_ A few days later, they woke up to the smell of smoke and the door to the cell gone.  _

_ Fire ravaged the collapsing spaceship, massive pieces of metal peeling away from the ceiling and walls. Clones scurried like rats for the closest exit and left behind the mangled bodies of their fallen brothers. The girls watched from the doorway of their cell in awe as the world came crashing down.  _

_ Shaking her head, Glimmer set her face in stone and grabbed Catra’s hand. “Let’s go.”  _

_ They ran through the destroyed ship, dodging debris and throwing clones into the fray when they came across them. Catra got her hands on a weapon from one of the dead clones.  _

_ “Are your powers back yet?” she asked.  _

_ Glimmer snapped her fingers. “Not yet.”  _

_ “Okay. Keep going. We have to find a way out of here before the entire place comes crashing down.”  _

_ On cue, a metal beam came crashing down between them. The walkway collapsed. Glimmer leapt to the other side that was still attached to the wall. Catra yelped as she went tumbling down through the ship.  _

_ “Catra!”  _

_ The world went dark for a moment. Catra groaned as she came around, bleeding from little cuts and scrapes when she tumbled across the debris. Her vision swam, ears ringing, but she made her way to her feet. Stumbling over the chunks of metal and concrete, she searched for a splash of pink.  _

_ “Sparkles,” she called. “Sparkles!”  _

_ “Catra!” Glimmer jumped over a piece of rebar-studded concrete and threw her arms around Catra. “Are you okay?”  _

_ “Yeah, fine. Come on, we have to-” _

_ The rubble shifted. Horde Prime dragged himself out from under the concrete and steel. His face was twisted with rage, one of his extra eyes missing from its socket and green ooze dripping from his cuts. He bared his fluorescent teeth and roared.  _

_ “You!” he screamed. “I should have killed you when I had the chance!”  _

_ He grabbed Glimmer’s arm. Catra tackled the dictator, knocking him to the ground and punching him until her fist bled. He barely flinched. Tangling a fist in her hair, he flung her across the rubble, and she landed in a twisted heap. Glimmer retaliated with smashing a rock against the side of Prime’s face. He shrieked in pain and batted her aside. Holding his bloodied face, he grabbed Glimmer by the throat and lifted her into the air.  _

_ “You insolent little insect!” he screamed. “How dare you defy me! I should have destroyed you and your planet when I first came upon you.” He narrowed his eyes as his hands tightened around Glimmer’s neck. “It may be too late to destroy your planet, but not to destroy you, your majesty.”  _

_ “No!” Catra jumped onto his back and tore her claws through his back. Horde Prime screamed as green blood soaked his robes, and he reached back to grab Catra and slammed her into the ground. Scrambling back, she staggered to her feet between Prime and Glimmer.  _

_ Before she could react, Prime lunged. Catra lifted an arm. His claws tore through her forearm before they reached her face.  _

_ “Catra!” Glimmer shrieked.  _

_ Prime stood over Catra as she collapsed, blinded by her own blood. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and lifted her torso off the ground.  _

_ “You are nothing to me.”  _

_ His claws dug into her side. She screamed.  _

_ A sharp spike of metal stabbed through Horde Prime’s chest.  _

\---

Glimmer’s voice breaks. She leans into Catra, hiding her face against her shoulder. She closes her eyes as tears trickle down her face. Catra lets the queen hold onto her arm and cradles her head with the other hand as her hair falls over her face. She screws her eyes shut for a moment before lifting her head, and the trio sitting before them meet her stare with heartbroken eyes. 

Bow covers his mouth, holding back tears. Micah’s face is still, but his cheeks are wet and his eyes are red. Adora watches them with nothing but sadness in her eyes. 

“Do you want me to keep talking?” she asks. Glimmer nods. “Okay.” 

\---

_ Prime dropped Catra as he fell to his knees. Glimmer stood behind him, and she jumped aside as Prime fell back, driving the spike all the way through his chest. He let go of a final breath and died without a word.  _

\---

Glimmer holds her arm tighter. Catra knows what she’s thinking about, but she doesn’t tell the rest of them how it ended. 

\---

_ Glimmer bolted to Catra’s side and pulled her up onto a level piece of concrete. “Catra, Catra talk to me, please,” she begged.  _

_ Catra grimaced, one eye stuck shut with blood and her teeth stained red. “Ow.”  _

_ Glimmer grinned in relief, tears welling in her eyes as she slung Catra’s arm over her shoulders. “Come on, we have to get out of here before the ship collapses.”  _

_ Catra groaned in pain as Glimmer helped her to her feet, but she soldiered on as the queen led her out of the wreckage. They staggered through fire and over rubble, marching through the massive labyrinth. Catra covered the punctures in her side with one hand, trying to staunch the bleeding. Glimmer mumbled assurances through heavy breaths as she led Catra along and ignored the blood staining her own clothes.  _

_ Natural light trickled through a hole in the wall of the ship. Catra laughed as they broke out into a crater, sunlight filtering through the black smoke and clean air cutting through the acrid smell of burning chemicals. They staggered out of the crater, hauling themselves over the lip onto the grass.  _

_ Glimmer cradled Catra against her chest, smoothing her hair away from her face and holding her tight. Catra laughed even though it hurt, laughed at the sun and the clouds and the destroyed ship and the dead ruler and the grass between her fingers.  _

_ “We’re out,” she laughed as her vision darkened around the edges. “We’re out.”  _

_ “Catra, you have to stay with me,” Glimmer said as she cupped her face. “Please stay with me.”  _

_ “Glimmer.” Catra clung to Glimmer’s shirt. “Thank you.”  _

_ “For what?”  _

_ “For showing me that I’m worth something.”  _

_ Glimmer held her tight as tears dripped down her face. “Please, hold on,” she begged as Catra’s grip went slack. “Hold on.”  _

\---

“That’s horrible,” Bow finally says. 

“We had no idea,” Adora whispers. 

Glimmer lifts her head and wipes away her tears, sucking in a ragged breath. “We’re fine now. We got out of it in one piece.” 

Micah stands. Catra moves aside as the sorcerer embraces his daughter, holding her close as tears run down his face. “My sweet girl,” he chokes out. “I’m sorry.” 

Glimmer fights tears as she hugs him back. “I love you, Dad.” 

“I love you, too.” 

Bow sobs and jumps onto the pair, followed by Adora. Micah wraps his arms around the trio, and suddenly Catra feels like her presence is an intrusion. She doesn’t belong in this moment, not after everything she did. She stands. 

Adora grabs her shoulder. She turns to see Adora’s face calm and steady, even though her eyes well with tears. Micah reaches out to her. 

“Catra, come here. You’re a part of this,” he says. 

“I…” Her voice dies in her throat. 

Glimmer pulls her into the embrace. She bristles for a split second, hair standing on end, before she relaxes into their arms. Glimmer leans her head on Catra’s chest. “We’re okay,” she whispers in her ear. 

Catra nods and holds her tighter. 

They stay there for what feels like forever before Adora and Bow break off, leading Glimmer off to play some game they set up. Glimmer beckons to Catra, but Micah lays a heavy hand on her shoulder. 

“I’ll catch up,” Catra says. Glimmer nods and follows after her friends. 

Micah turns Catra to face him and gently grabs her shoulders. “Catra, I just wanted to say thank you.” 

Catra’s face twists as she steps out of his reach. “Please don’t thank me.” She struggles to speak around the lump in her throat. “After everything I did… I don’t… I don’t deserve it.” 

“I know about everything you’ve done,” Micah says. “I am… working on forgiving that. To be honest, I don’t think I ever fully will, but it can’t be changed. I’m thanking you for looking after my daughter.” 

With tears in her eyes, Catra jumps into Micah’s arms. He holds her tight until she pulls away, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand. 

“Thank you,” she chokes out. Micah smiles and nods towards the door. Catra returns the smile and runs down the hall after the trio. “Glimmer! Wait up!” 


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff.

“And I’m sorry,” Catra finishes. “I know that words don’t fix anything, but I need you to know that I regret everything I did. I wish I could take it all back.” 

Adora sits back. Her face is calm, but her eyes are narrow and alight with the pain of memories past. Catra remembers when those pale blue eyes were bright and happy, when training was the only combat the pair saw and war hadn’t turned them into hardened soldiers. In the past, the thought of simpler times sent a pang of longing through her, but now she only felt hollow. 

“I don’t know if I can forgive you,” Adora says. Catra lowers her head. “I still have scars from our fights. I tried to get you to come with me all those times and you never listened.” 

“I needed to make my own way out,” Catra says. “I have that now. I just… I couldn’t keep following after you. I was your responsibility our entire lives with Shadow Weaver and I couldn’t keep going along with you just because it was what I knew. If I was going to get out then I needed it to be because I learned to be better.” 

“Going along with me?” 

“Adora, she treated me like your pet,” Catra bursts out. Adora startles, and Catra ducks her head. “And even if you never saw it, you started to believe it too, and I just… look where we are now.” 

Adora sighs. “I know now that Shadow Weaver was evil. I had to be away from her to understand it, but I know. I’m just glad she’s gone now.” 

Catra shudders. They told her what happened to her former keeper after the fall of the ship, how she lost it when her plans to regain control failed and let the demon possessing her magic take over entirely. That night, Catra screamed and laughed and cried all at once. Almost every soft surface in her room was shredded by morning. 

“I don’t want to talk about her,” she whispers. “This is about what I did and how you feel about it.” 

Studying her, Adora clasps her hands in her lap as her brow furrows. “You really have changed, haven’t you?” 

“I tried to tell you that!” 

“Well how was I supposed to know you were telling the truth?!” 

“I… that’s fair.” Catra stands as Adora steps around the table. She takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but will you at least stop hating me?” 

Adora pulls Catra into a tight embrace. “I never hated you.” 

Pressing her hands flat against Adora’s back, she feels the scars she left during the battle of Brightmoon so long ago. She buries her face against Adora’s shoulder. “I was miserable when we fought. No matter how many times I won, it never made it better.” 

“I never wanted to fight,” Adora whispers. “I’m sorry I didn’t see what was happening to you, Catra. I’m sorry I never stopped it.” 

“I’m sorry I took it out on you.” 

They break away from each other, and Adora tries at a weak smile. “Can we go back to the way we used to be?” 

Catra bristles.

_ Pet.  _

“I… n-no,” she stammers, and Adora’s face falls. “I don’t want the way we used to be because we’re just going to make the same mistakes again.  _ I’m  _ going to make the same mistakes. I want to start over.” She takes Adora’s hand. “I want to be friends, but I never want to be anything like the person I was. Is that… okay?”

“Yeah, it is.” 

They give each other one last quick hug before Catra heads for the door. She pauses in the doorway, looking over her shoulder. “Adora.”

“Yeah?” 

“Talk to Sparkles again. She doesn’t need you protecting her.” 

Adora frowns and rears back. “That’s not your business, Catra.” 

“Adora,” Catra hisses. Adora freezes. “I c… Glimmer is…”

“What?” 

“I care about Glimmer. When we were on that ship, the way we fucked up with you was one of the few things we knew we had in common to start with. Maybe the way we ended was all my fault or maybe it wasn’t. I don’t care. But you and Glimmer both drove each other away. If you’re her friend then you need to put work in to fix it just like she is.” 

“What do you know about working to fix things?” 

“Do you think this is easy for me? After everything, do you think I like rolling over and begging people to forgive me?” Catra snaps. Adora purses her lips, and Catra sighs. “We just made up and I don’t want to fight with you. Think about what I said.” 

“Okay.” 

“I’ll see you later, Adora.” 

“See you.” 

A weight slips from Catra’s chest as she finds her way to a balcony. Adora doesn’t hate her, and that is enough for her now. She can breathe again. Looking out over Brightmoon and relishing the feeling of the wind in her hair, she allows herself a smile. 

She turns at the sound of footsteps. Glimmer steps onto the balcony with Mermista beside her, and the princess glares at Catra. 

“Catra, you know Mermista,” Glimmer says. 

“Yeah,” Catra mumbles. “I’m glad you-”

A massive jet of water knocks her flat on her face, and then another shoves her down when she tries to rise. 

“Mermista!” Glimmer exclaims as she grabs Catra’s arm. She helps Catra to her feet as she coughs and shivers, soaked to the bone. 

“That’s for attacking my kingdom,” Mermista says. “Twice.” 

“Okay, yeah, I deserved that,” Catra says between coughs. She steps away from Glimmer and holds her hands out to the side. “I’m sorry for everything I did to your kingdom and I deserve what I get for it.” Mermista doesn’t react. “Can I do anything to make up for it?” 

Mermista’s face twists in contempt. “Help Bow plan his aid missions. Do not go on them, but help him plan. And you are not allowed to even think about Salineas unless you’re under Twinkle’s strict supervision.” 

Glimmer rolls her eyes at the nickname as Catra nods. “I can do that,” she says. 

“Good.” Mermista pats Catra’s shoulder before flipping her hair and stepping back. “Okay, I won’t try to drown you now, don’t make a big deal about it.” 

“Thanks?” 

“You’re welcome.” Mermista and Glimmer exchange a quick goodbye before she leaves. 

Catra shakes the water out of her hair. Smiling, Glimmer takes her by the arm and leads her back inside. “Come on, you should get changed and then we can go on a walk.” 

Catra smiles. “Okay.” 

After changing into dry clothes, she follows Glimmer into the gardens that wrap around the base of the castle. With some help from the local villagers, Perfuma expanded them into sloping terraces that lead down the mountainside to the lake. It’s quiet and tranquil among the flowers and fruit trees. Better yet, the two of them are left alone. 

Glimmer slips her hand into Catra’s and intertwines their fingers. Catra smiles and leans into her. She’d stopped shaking since their talk with Micah, Bow, and Adora, but she still holds onto Catra when her mind gets the better of her. 

“You look better,” Catra remarks as they sit beneath a blossoming tree. 

“I’ve actually been able to sleep,” Glimmer says. She paused before continuing, “Being back in the same bed with you has been helping.” 

“It’s helped me, too.” Catra frowns. “Did you want to stop, or…?”

“No!” Glimmer says a bit too quickly. “I mean, uh, not if you don’t want to.” 

“I don’t want to.”

“Okay.” Glimmer leans her head on Catra’s shoulder. “Are you alright?” 

“Yeah. I’m better than I have been in a long time. The nightmares are gone.”

“That’s good.”

“I still dream about you, though.”

Glimmer sits up. “Good or bad?” 

“Good.” 

Glimmer nods, gazing up at Catra. Their arms are intertwined, touching from shoulder to ankle as cherry blossoms flutter down around them. Catra’s stomach twist with butterflies as she stares into Glimmer’s violet eyes. Glimmer is warm pressed against her. The world is calm and quiet. The word  _ perfect  _ comes to Catra’s mind as her face grows hot. 

Glimmer looks away and clears her throat, and Catra takes a deep breath as she finally remembers how. “So, um,” she begins. “Now that Bow is back and the aid mission to Salineas is done, the princess alliance is planning a big party that’s going to happen tonight in the ballroom. I only have, you know, princess prom to go by, so I don’t really know if parties are your thing, but do you want to come?” 

Catra suppresses a shudder at the mention of the dance and shakes her head, leaning away. “I don’t know. I don’t think I should be celebrating the end of the war with all those people. I may be on better terms with the princess alliance but that’s only because I saved you.” 

“Oh. I didn’t think about that.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Are you sure? If you stay with me, people won’t go after you or anything.” 

Catra tries at a smile. “Maybe next time after I’ve fixed things. Everyone is still healing.” She takes Glimmer’s hand and intertwines their fingers. “If things were different, I would go.” 

“Okay.” Glimmer squeezes her hand, sidling up to her. She has that fluttering feeling in her stomach again but ignores it. 

Catra rests her head on Glimmer’s, and they sit in silence amongst the cherry blossoms. 

Catra sits on Glimmer’s couch later that night, flipping through a fairytale book about two people from enemy families falling in love. Glimmer suggested she take up reading when wandering the castle and napping in sunny windowsills grew tiresome. The library was one of the biggest rooms in the castle, filled from floor to ceiling with stories. Catra liked seeing how high she could get on the ladders before one of the guards called after her. 

Glimmer comes out of the bathroom attached to her room. Catra glances up, but the fleeting glimpse draws her full attention. She lifts her head, eyes wide as Glimmer stands before her. 

The frilly tutu from princess prom is gone, replaced by a sleek deep purple dress with lace sleeves. Glimmer’s face is free of makeup besides a touch of purple eyeshadow, but her face glows regardless, bright and cheery and full of life. The bruises and marks are gone; only a small scar under her left eye remains. Her crown glitters as she gives a spin, showing a laced up back and her tattooed wings. Catra swallows hard. 

“Does it look okay?” she asks. 

“Yeah, it looks great,” Catra rushes out. 

Glimmer giggles, blushing as she tucks her hair behind her ear. “Are you sure you don’t want to come?” 

“I’m sure. Maybe next time.” 

“Okay.” Glimmer reaches out and squeezes Catra’s hand before leaving. “I’ll be back later.” 

“See you then, Sparkles.” Her eyes trail Glimmer until she’s out of sight. 

She spends the night reading, curled up by the fire with her tail wrapped around her. Halfway through the night, Adora steps into the room wearing the same red dress as princess prom. Catra’s ears swivel towards her as she stands in the doorway, but she doesn’t look up. 

“I thought you would find you here,” Adora says. 

“Have been since I got here,” Catra replies. 

“You’re not coming to the celebration?” 

Catra turns to her. “No one but Sparkles wants me there, Adora.” 

“I want you there,” Adora says. Frowning, Catra looks down. “I’m sorry about getting hostile after our talk this morning. You’re right, I need to talk to Glimmer more, I just didn’t expect to hear it.” 

“Tell her that.” 

“You really care about her.” 

“I… y-yeah. She helped me with a lot of shit.” 

“Yeah. She’s good at that.” Adora turns away. “Everyone’s moving out the gardens if you want to come.” 

“Maybe next time. I’m going to let some wounds heal before anything else.” 

“Okay. I’ll see you later, Catra.” 

“Bye, Adora.” 

Once the warrior is gone, Catra closes her book and sits up, blowing a long breath out through her nose. She runs her hands through her hair, leaving the room and making her way to a balcony overlooking the grounds. Throngs of people crowd the pavilion below, dancing and socializing beneath the bright, colorful lights. She smiles and leans on the railing.  _ Next time, _ she tells herself. 

Purple light flashes beside her. “Got bored?” Glimmer asks.

Catra jumps, chuckling as Glimmer bursts out laughing. “A little,” she says. “I thought the queen would have to be down there the entire time.” 

“I gave a speech and said my hellos. I’m free of my obligations.” She leans on the railing and bumps her shoulder against Catra’s. “I wish you were there.” 

“I’m here now.” 

Glimmer hums and glances at the party as a slower song comes on and the dancers pair together. “Did Scorpia teach you how to dance?” 

“For princess prom, yeah.” 

Stepping into the center of the balcony, Glimmer extends a hand to Catra. “Will you dance with me?” 

Catra freezes. After a moment, she smiles and takes Glimmer’s hand. Her hands shake as it rests on the queen’s waist, but as Glimmer wraps her arms around her neck and smiles up at her, she relaxes into the warmth of her touch. She briefly thinks of how absurd they must look together, with Glimmer in her fine gown and Catra in a tank top and trousers, but it pushes it away. 

They sway together to the beat of the music, watching the stars in each other’s eyes. Catra pulls her closer. Glimmer rests her head against the taller girl’s chest and closes her eyes. 

Catra turns her gaze to the newly glittering sky. “Glimmer, can I ask you something?” 

“Go ahead.” 

“Do you remember when we were first on the ship, and you asked me if winning was the only thing that mattered to me?” 

Glimmer stiffens a little under her touch. “Yeah?”

Pulling back, Catra cups Glimmer’s cheek. “I was wrong. It’s taken me awhile, but I finally learned that all I ever wanted was someone to show me I can be good. You gave me that, Glimmer. Thank you.” 

Catra can’t tell who leans in first, but she doesn’t care. The kiss is gentle and warm, and Catra sighs as Glimmer melts into her. She runs her fingers through the queen’s soft, sparkling hair, pulling their bodies flush together. Glimmer tangles her fingers in the locks at the back of Catra’s neck. Catra wishes the moment could last forever. 

They pull apart, breathless and clinging to each other. Glimmer’s face is flushed. Catra swipes her thumb across the sweep of the queen’s cheekbone. 

“Wow,” she whispers. 

A whistle draws their attention. Bright bursts of light go off above the castle, drawing the attention of the partygoers. Catra laughs as Glimmer leans into her. 

“That was perfect timing,” she remarks. 

“Yeah, no kidding.” Glimmer looks up at Catra. “We’re going to be okay, right?” 

“Absolutely,” Catra purrs. She kisses Glimmer again, warm and passionate, loving the way it leaves the queen stunned in her embrace. “After everything we’ve gone through? We’ll be just fine.” 

“I’m going to hold you to that.” 

Catra laughs and pulls her closer. They spend the rest of the night in each other’s arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has liked the story so far! You're all amazing and it's been great hearing your feedback. Thank you all!


End file.
